Car theft rate reveals surprising results in Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills

It may appear like there are more auto thefts than ever in Oakville, Milton, Burlington and Halton Hills, but statistics released today by Halton police disagree.

A report comparing crime statistics for the first six months of this year to the same period last year was presented at today’s Halton Police Services Board meeting.

It shows there were 25 more auto thefts from January to June this year than in 2023, but when adjusted for population growth, it was actually down about one per cent.

The report shows violent crime was also down this year, about five per cent.

However, other property crimes were up significantly, including thefts (up five per cent), break and enter (up 28 per cent), fraud (up 97 per cent), mischief (up 13 per cent) and arson (up 85 per cent).

“Analysis indicates that 572 more criminal offences were reported in the first six months of 2024 (8,188) than were recorded in the same period in 2023 (7,616),” reads the report.

“This is a raw number increase of 7.5 per cent, but represents an increase in the crime rate of 3.1 per cent when regional population growth is considered.

“Violent crime offences decreased by 0.9 per cent from 1,277 in 2023, to 1,266 in 2024. This represents a violent crime rate decrease of 4.9 per cent due to population increase. These crimes accounted for 15.5 per cent of all criminal offences, down from 16.8 per cent in 2023.

“Property crime increased by 18.1 per cent from 5,380 in 2023 to 6,354 in 2024. This represents a property crime rate increase of 13.3 per cent.

“The ‘other crimes’ category of offences was down by 40.8 per cent in 2024 (from 959 to 568 offences). This represents a crime rate decrease of 43.2 per cent.”

The 2024 clearance rate (34.5 per cent) was lower than the 2023 value (41.3 per cent).

Police Chief Stephen Tanner was on hand at the meeting to talk about the report. His main point was that although crime in some areas was up, he believed the number of criminals is actually down.

“If one person robs the LCBO 30 times, that’s 30 robberies, but it’s only one culprit. The statistics can be skewed and the raw numbers make it sound worse than it really is.”

He said the same held true for car thefts, where it’s organized rings stealing multiple vehicles.

Staff also blamed the lower clearance rate this year on the force’s staff being stretched by having to deal with the numerous protests that have been going on across the region, but mostly in Oakville.